Can-body support.



7 F liUbdLPHL CAN BODY SUPPORT.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 2, 1911.

' Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

F. RUDOLPHI.

CAN BODY SUPPORT.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 2, 1911.

1,1 30,636. Patented M21112, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEBT RT P. RUDOLPHI.

CAN BODY SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 2, 1911.

I Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES OFFICE.

mm: impotent, er -aw YORK, iv. Y, lssienon 'ro emnmcmcm comm; on NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION or new messy.

AN-BODY SUPPORT.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

Application filed August 2, 1911. Serial No. 842,016.

Toall whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, FRANK Rooonrm, a citizen of the United States, residing in New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a new and use ful Improvement in Can-Body Supports, of which the following is a specification.

.This invention relates to an improvement in can body making machines, and especially to that part of the machine which receives the formed can body and solders the side seam thereof, and still more particularly to that form of such side seam soldering mechanism which employs for supporting the can in its passage through the machine, what is known as an outside horse or support. And the invention relates to the combination with such an outside horse and its appliances, of an endless gripping conveyer for continuously moving the cans through the interior of said outside horse, and over the solder bath. And the invention consists further in the novel devices and parts and combinations of parts and devices hereinafter more fully described, and made the subject of the claims.

In the accompanying drawing which forms a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a partial side elevation of the machine embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a continuation of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 44 of said Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a vertical cross section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66 of Fig. 5. Figs. 7 and 8 are partial plan views of the portion of the machine illustrated in Fig. 2, Fig. 8 being a horizontal section taken on the line 88 of Fig. 2.

In said drawings, 11 is a form of outside horseor can support suitable for use in soldering enamel lined or interiorly lacquered cans, the same being a skeleton tube made of slender bars 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. The first three named bars 12, 13 and 14 are secured to the circular rib pieces 18, and the second three named bars 15, 16 and 17 to the circular rib pieces 19. The rib pieces 18 carrying the three bars are removably secured to the brackets 20 erected on the general frame 21 of the machine. The rib pieces 19 are similarly secured to the brackets 22, which brackets are hinged at 23 to the brackets 20. Lock bolts 24, from the brackets 20 to the by a chain and suitable gear.

brackets 22, serve to secure the hinged bracketsto the stationary one in such manthat upon occasion when it is desired to getat the interior of the outside horse, these bolts being released, one half of the outside horse may be swung up, freely disclosing its interior. When it is desired that a horse of different diameter, to suit a different sized can is to be used, the substitution is readily made by merely removing from the brackets 20, 22, the detachable circular rib pieces 18,

19 and their bars, and applying another set in the same place.

25 is a handle by which the hinged side of the brackets and their contained horse may be readily lifted. The rib pieces 18, 19 are made with a gap 26 at their lower extremities to permit the periphery of the can at the side seam thereof to come in contact with the soldering roll 27 which, as shown more clearly in Fig. 1, has a continuous, smooth surface, and which rotates about an axis parallel to the horn. The rib pieces are also provided with gap 28 to permit the chain conveyor 29 to grip and carry the cans by means of the grippers 30 connected to or forming part of the endless chain. The

chain moves in the direction of the arrows,

its lower ply moving in the direction the cans are to be carried, and its upper ply returning. The chain is carried by the sprocket 31 driven from the main shaft 32 At'the other end, the chain passes over the two idle sprockets 34, 35. The grippers 30, each of which may form a link in the chain, are carried at short intervals on the chain, and each is provided with a foot 36 having an inclined front edge 37. Pivoted to this gripper link at 38 is the gripping clamp 39 having the curved gripping face 40 and guard extension 41 and the actuating projections 42. The can body 43 is firmly gripped between the foot piece 36 and the curved gripping face 40, the forward ply of the chain tending at all times when in motion to tighten the grip. When the grippers are carried over the idle sprocket 35, the actuating projections or tail pieces 42 of the grippers strike against the shaft 351 of this sprocket, and being thus dragged backward, the mouth of the gripper is opened. In its passage the gripper is brought against the edge of the can end by the movement of the chain, and the can is thus strongly and firmly gripped or embraced between the upper face of the foot and the lower face of the swinging surface. This'engagement is sufficiently firm and secure so that neither the rotary rubbing of the solder roll ina d1- rection at right angles to the axis of the can, nor the rubbing of the wiper, subsequently to be mentioned, against the lower periphery of the can, at an angle, Wlll cause the can to turn or become loosened from the hold of said grippen- So held, the cans are conveyed along through the outside horse by the movement of the chain until the tail of the gripper strikes the plate 44 placed in their path on the stationary framework of the machine at a point near the end of the outside soldering horse. When the grippers encounter this plate, the aw of the gripper is opened thereby and the grlp on the can released, the can being discharged onto the supplemental conveyer 45. On the forward movement of the chain, the grippers being furnished with rollers 46, 46, one at each side, ride on the two track bars 47, 48, one supported at each side on the brackets 20, 22 above described. On their return movement, the grippers ride along the upper surface of a blade-like track 49, the projections 42 being astride of said blade-like track. The soldering roll 27 is driven by the chain 50 from the main shaft 32. The angling wiper for wiping the solder seam is shown at 51 and is driven from the main shaft 32 by any suitable gearing.

I claim 1. In a soldering machine, in combination: a stationary, outside solder horn adapted to support can bodies; a solder bath; a solder roll rotatable in said bath and about an axis parallel to the horn and adapted to apply solder to the seams of the can bodies while in the horn; and an endless, continuously moving can body conveyer provided with gripping devices adapted to grip the cans firmly and prevent the same from turning, substantially as specified.

2. In a soldering machine, in combination: an outside, stationary solder horn; said horn 5 including two members, one of which is pivotally mounted on the other and adapted to be swung about said pivot, each section of the horn having a plurality of parallelly arranged ribs; a solder bath; and means for applying solder to the seams of the can bodies while supported by said horn; substantially as specified.

3. In a soldering machine, in combination:

a stationary, outside solder horn, said horn including two members, one of which is. iv-

otally mounted upon the other; a so der bath; means for applying solder to the seams of the can bodies while supported by 1 said horn; andan endless conveyer adapted its length; and a can body conveyer adapted to propel the can bodies along said horn,

said conveyer being provided with a plurality of gripping devices, each adapted to grip a can firmly and prevent the same from turning, substantially as specified.

5. In a soldering machine, in combination: an outside solder horn provided with a gap along the bottomthereof; a solder bath; a solder roll rotatable about an axis parallel to'said horn and adapted to apply solder to the side seams of the can bodies while said seams are positioned in said gap; and a conveyer adapted to propel the cans through the horn, said'conveyer having means thereon adapted to grip the can bodies and prevent the latter from turning, substantially as specified.

6. In a soldering machine, a stationary, outside solder horn having a plurality of members, one of which is pivotally mounted relatively to the other, each member of the ,horn being provided with a plurality of removable, interchangeable ribs thereby adapting the horn for cans of different diameters,

substantially as specified.

' FRANK RUDOLPHI. Witnesses:

IV. D. Fos'rrm, C. W. GRAHAM. 

